Maine brewers to get tax break under federal tax overhaul

Photo / Tim Greenway

The wild barrel room at Allagash Brewing Co. in Portland. Allagash and other large Maine brewers, such as Shipyard Brewing Co., could see as much as $200,000 in tax savings this year due to a provision in the federal tax overhaul approed by the Republican-led Congress in late 2017.

Maine breweries collectively will save about $1 million in taxes this year due to a provision included in the federal tax overhaul recently approved by the Republican-led Congress.

The Portland Press Herald reported that the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act that was approved in late 2017 along with reductions in personal and corporate tax rates includes a two-year cut on the federal tax levied on a barrel of beer. Under its provisions, the federal tax levied drops from $7 per barrel to $3.50 for the first 60,000 barrels brewed.

After 60,000 barrels, the tax drops from $18 to $16 a barrel, the newspaper reported.

Other provisions include a tax cut on liquor produced or imported, with liquor to be taxed at $2.70 per gallon until the end of 2019, down from $13.50 per gallon, the Press Herald reported.

Maine's larger breweries such as Allagash Brewing Co. and Shipyard Brewing Co. could save more than $200,000 in their 2018 excise taxes, the newspaper reported, while smaller breweries, which make significantly fewer barrels, aren't expecting much of a boost.

Like the other federal tax cuts, the savings are expected to spur business investments and growth.